Fundraiser to help mom of jogger detained after crossing U.S. border

A family friend set up a GoFundMe page to help recover expenses incurred after Christiane Ferne’s daughter was locked up in a U.S. detention centre after accidentally crossing the U.S. border last month.

Cedella Roman, 19, went jogging along the Semiahmoo Bay waterfront and inadvertently crossed the Douglas (Peace Arch) port of entry May 21.

While in America, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted her, and told her that she had entered illegally.

Roman, daughter of Ferne, was transported to Tacoma Northwest Detention Centre, where she spent two weeks before she could re-enter Canada.

Markus Harrison, a friend of Ferne, contacted Peace Arch News July 13 to say he set up a GoFundMe page to help recover the costs associated Roman’s detainment.

“(Ferne) had to take time off work and go down there, drive to Tacoma Washington and stay in a motel. Have her expenses while she was there, and then she was talking to lawyers and consultants about it,” Harrison told PAN.

Harrison said that Ferne also had to purchase phone cards for both her and her daughter so they could speak. The cost, he said, was 35 cents per minute.

The GoFundMe page has a fundraising goal of $2,500. So far, $95 has been raised.